In recent years, personal lubricant compositions have been increasingly utilized in the realm of enhancing intimate relationships and assisting couples in the pursuit of intimate activities, including sexual intercourse. Recently, personal lubricant products that are warming and non-irritating were introduced to the market and have been used not only to provide lubrication so as to enable comfortable sexual intercourse, but to enhance the experience associated therewith. They have also been used as massage compositions to help couples connect intimately and set the mood for intimate experiences.
While the warming attribute of personal lubricants such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,408 is a positive, desirable one, most warming personal lubricants are clear gels or liquids. As the warming phenomenon is related to exposing a substantially anhydrous composition to ambient moisture, these products are composed almost entirely of one phase which is essentially water-soluble.
Many traditional skin massage compositions are oil products. They promote the distribution of oils to the skin of the individual receiving a massage so as to ease the process of massaging. They may also be in the form of lotions or emulsions that contain both aqueous and oil phases.
Emulsion-based body lotions and massage lotions form a huge segment of the skin care and personal care market. Although the number of such products is quite large, they are primarily designed to function as moisturizers. They are not intended nor designed to be used as personal lubricants. As these emulsions contain, for the most part, an aqueous phase, they are initially cold to the touch and quite uncomfortable upon first application to the skin. Furthermore, many contain emulsifying agents that may be irritating to mucosal tissue and, therefore, would not be appropriate or safe for use as “personal” or vaginal lubricants.
Because emulsion-based creamy lotions are found to be aesthetically pleasing, it is desirable that a massage/personal lubricant composition be created that is in the lotion or emulsion form and will not have the disadvantage of feeling cold upon initial application.
Surprisingly, we have found that providing compositions that may be used as both massage lotions and personal lubricants may be made in the form of emulsions.